Flexibility: The Key to a Successful Restoration?

I was in the construction business for almost 30 years and during that time was involved in the construction of probably 700-800 new homes of all types and sizes, and also supervised many major old house restorations along the way. It was a very enjoyable career and I still go out of my way on occasion to drive past some of the new and old houses that I once worked on and many families now call their homes. When I look back at my professional life, some personality traits come to mind that helped me and that I believe would help anyone involved in restoring an old house or building a new one.

What Are We Going to Find Down Here? Photo from ourvictorianhouse.com

Attention to detail definitely needs to be near the top of the list, and so does the ability to plan and schedule; nothing happens while restoring an old house–or building a new one–unless it has been scheduled. The right materials in the correct amounts need to be on the job waiting for the contractors, but not so soon that they are damaged or walk off the job site to another house. The ability to communicate effectively is important; contractors need to be called and re-called–and even then they may not show up on the right day.

Contractors or materials not showing up make another trait very desirable; the ability to work under pressure. Pressure during a restoration project is having the hardwood contractor who needed to be scheduled three weeks in advance showing up tomorrow and the gas company still hasn’t arrived to set the meter so your furnace can run to provide the heat the floor installer needs. When you’re the person running the show, everyone looks to you for the answers and solutions. Which brings me to the last and what I consider to be the most important personality trait for managing or working on a restoration project–flexibility.

Restoration Flexibility

Flexibility is needed in new home construction, but it can be critical for keeping a restoration project on track for a successfulcompletion. With an old house restoration you never know what you’re going to uncover when you tear up an old bathroom floor, open up an interior wall you thought was non-load bearing, or begin restoring an old Baltimore, Maryland row house that was close to being condemned.

We Thought it was a Non-Bearing Wall photo from geocities.com/karlesgoddess/

Flexibility is having the ability to make quick educated decisions to help keep the restoration process moving forward, even if you are having to change course slightly or sometimes a bit more than slightly. Missing a summer’s worth of restoration work on an old house due to loan complications definitely requires a display of restoration flexibility.